As the Rangers are among seven teams fighting for the final three playoff spots in the Eastern Conference, they cannot afford to give away any games. But with three games still to play before the beginning of the Olympic Break, coach John Tortorella is hopeful the Blueshirts can stay focused on the task at hand.

“The important thing is for our guys to make sure that the break is after the Tampa game, and to not look too forward to [the break],” Tortorella said. “It’s a very important time for us, these next three games.”

While he is hoping his players can stay focused for the three games this week — tomorrow against Nashville, Friday at Pittsburgh and Sunday against Tampa Bay — Tortorella thought that once the Rangers reach the break, it could be beneficial for the team’s younger players.

“We always think about the physical part,” Tortorella said. “Like a Michael Del Zotto, I think a mental break is going to refresh him physically, and I think it goes in that order. So yeah, it will be good for a few of these guys.

“We’ve got a number of young kids that haven’t played this much hockey, and it will be good for them to get a break from it.”

Meanwhile, the Rangers currently find themselves in the midst of another mini-break this week, as they are in the middle of three days off between Saturday’s 3-1 win over the Devils and tomorrow’s game against Nashville. The break gives the team a chance to better integrate its two newest members — center Olli Jokinen and winger Brandon Prust.

“We have some work to do with the two new guys,” Tortorella said. “In these type of days, when it’s not a game day, we don’t want to bother them too much during the day of the games, we just want them to be instinctive.

“So these couple days is quite a bit of film with the new guys in it, just explaining some of our coverages, especially away from the puck.”

But as the break draws closer, giving some players a chance to get away from the game for a few days, while others prepare to head to Vancouver in order to represent their country, it’s human nature to begin to look ahead.

“It’s getting closer,” said Henrik Lundqvist, who will be Sweden’s starting goalie. “You start to think about it a little bit more because you start to get more questions about it, you get reminded about it.

“It’s a great feeling going there. I have a lot of good memories from last time [when Sweden won the gold medal]. It’s just a great experience overall going there.”